Westside High School students organized their own walkout — here's why

Westside seniors Gabriella Alicea, left, and Jonathan Bruce talk about how students are preparing to walk out on Wednesday to promote school safety, and remember institutions who were victimized by shootings.
Ken Ruinard/Independent Mail

Westside seniors Gabriella Alicea, left, and Jonathan Bruce talk on Monday about how students are preparing to remember the 17 high school students who died at a school in Florida. Schools nationwide are aware of possible walkouts on Wednesday morning from 10 a.m. to 10:17 a.m. Students and faculty at Westside discussed the reasons for their walk, at the nearby track where they can safely make their statement. (Photo11: Ken Ruinard/Independent Mail)

Bruce said the walkout at Westside will include guest speakers, a poetry reading, a prayer and a moment of silence for all the lives lost in school shootings.

Westside seniors Gabriella Alicea, left, and Jonathan Bruce talk on Monday about how students are preparing to remember the 17 high school students who died at a school in Florida. Schools nationwide are aware of possible walkouts on Wednesday morning from 10 a.m. to 10:17 a.m. Students and faculty at Westside discussed the reasons for their walk, at the nearby track where they can safely make their statement. (Photo11: Ken Ruinard/Independent Mail)

"After that, we’re going to have 18 balloons — 17 to represent the victims, and the extra one is going to be a superhero balloon, and that represents Jacob Hall, who was from (the victim killed in) the Townville (Elementary School) shooting," Bruce said.

Although planning the walkout and getting the approval of administrators — chiefly that of Principal Kory Roberts — was their first step in organizing the event, Alicea said not everyone at Westside plans to participate.

"There are some teachers that don’t necessarily want to be a part of it," Alicea said. "But for the majority of the students, they definitely (support) it. They’re interested in participating in it on Wednesday."

Curtis Smith, assistant principal at Westside, said the freedom to choose whether or not to take part is something they wanted to make very clear to students and staff.

"I think the students have done a great job of communicating that this is a voluntary thing on everyone's part," Smith said. "They are not pushing any sort of agenda with it. They’ve really taken this day and put their own spin on it to make it really a moment of remembrance for 17 plus 1."

With the 2016 Townville Elementary School shooting happening in the same county, school safety is definitely on the minds of students at Westside, Alicea said. At the same time, she said students would have planned a walkout anyway.

"Even if it hadn’t happened so close nearby, we’re the type of students where we’re going to take a stand," Alicea said. "That’s what we’re taught here by our administration. They encourage us to have our own opinions and to take our own stand — to be the change that we want to see tomorrow."

Follow Georgie Silvarole on Twitter @gsilvarole, or send her an email at georgie.silvarole@independentmail.com.